20 Years of Ultra – Episode 3: Growth and Expansion

Beginning in the mid-2000s, electronic music began to grow tremendously in popularity.

This led to a critical transition period for Ultra Music Festival. As the festival had always been a niche event catering to a unique subculture, various adjustments had to be made.

First, Ultra Music Festival expanded from Bayfront Park to the much larger Bicentennial Park, then to multiple days. While the growth was welcome, it led to concerns about how to preserve the underground influence that had allowed such a unique event to exist in the first place. A symbiotic partnership with Carl Cox was born, with a continuous promise that the sounds of the underground within electronic music would always have a prominent place at Ultra Music Festival.

Now, fans hearing electronic music for the first time were introduced to the culture and joined with purists that had enjoyed it for years. The blueprint for Ultra Music Festival’s formula for success was now solidified, and fans and artists alike knew that they had found a place where the most creative and genre-defining performances from both DJs AND Live Acts could be found every single year.